Both of the newest arrivals at Sweet Meadow Farm in Sherborn require special care.

And yes, "she follows me everywhere I go,'' Kelli Rich said of 2-week-old Lulu the lamb. But Lulu's already far more independent than 5-month-old Ruah, who spends most of her days, and nights, in a Vera Bradley handbag.

That won't change any time soon.

Julie Michaud, director of programs at the Coolidge Street farm, will be toting around the marsupial tot for the better part of the next four months.

While the wallaby has grown significantly from her birth size akin to a human fingernail, she has a long way to go before, at the age of 18 months, she reaches her adult size of about 2 to 2-and-a-half feet tall and weight of roughly 40 pounds. She "can't thermo-regulate for a few more weeks,'' so it's up to Michaud to make sure Ruah's body temperature stays at about 100 degrees by limiting her time out of the fleece-lined bag fitted inside the purse.

In the wild, wallabies suckle for about 5 to 11 months, which is why, even in captivity, a wallaby should be about 5 months before leaving its mom. Ruah, a Bennett's wallaby acquired from a zoologist who raises the animals for educational facilities like Sweet Meadow, is still on a steady bottle-fed diet of Wombaroo formula, but "she's starting to make the transition to eating.'' She recently started to nibble delicacies like strawberries, bananas and sweet potatoes, and the bottle feedings will taper off from the current five or six a day to one or two within a few months.

"It's a slow transition,'' said Michaud.

Frankly, ''she's a lot of work. There's no days off.'' Since arriving in Sherborn three weeks ago, "I've had her by my side 24/7. I don't go out much, but if I have to run to Walmart, I'll take her in the pouch.'' Her mother's pocketbook is "the perfect kangaroo pouch. It's all cotton, no buckles. ... I hang her up on my bedpost at night (in the bag). They like the feeling of being suspended.''

Then there are the dietary restrictions: "They can't eat wheat. They can't eat potatoes, but can eat sweet potatoes. You have to be very careful.''

Which is why you need to be licensed by the state, as Sweet Meadow is as an animal education facility, to own the marsupial native to Australia.

Ruah is Michaud's second wallaby. The original Ruah, who died last year, was part of the Michaud family for about 16 years.

"She grew up with the family,'' said Michaud, whose parents, Al and Patty Michaud, own the farm. As a young girl, "I went to school thinking everyone had a wallaby as a pet.''

Being a marsupial, the wallaby shares some qualities with the North American opossum, "but you can't own a possum,'' so the wallaby helps open the door to "teach about marsupials, how they're born ... It makes (children) more interested in animal science.''

Sweet Meadow offers a number of animal programs for youngsters, as well as riding lessons in an indoor ring and birthday parties with pony rides, in addition to selling animal feed manufactured at the farm and other items.

The horses available for riding lessons are full-sized, but Pedro the donkey and a pair of mini cows from Utah are among the kid-friendly, pint-sized variety.

"It's easier to teach animal science with smaller animals'' for students in the school vacation and summer programs, said Michaud.

An open house today, June 9, from 1 to 5 p.m., will give visitors a chance to meet some of the animals as well as go on hay rides, enjoy a children's concert and see a pony circus show featuring Lightning, whose repertoire includes fetching a Frisbee and sitting down on command.

It will be a number of months before Ruah will move into her paddock with a heated stall, but if visitors to today's open house see Michaud, they'll know what she's got in her paisley print bag.

And if they see Rich, they'll know a little lamb named Lulu will be following, and bleating, close behind.

More information on Sweet Meadow programs and today's open house is available at sweetmeadowfarm.com.

Julia Spitz can be reached at 508-626-3968 or jspitz@wickedlocal.com. Follow tweets at twitter.com/SpitzJ_MW.